The Department of Defense is facing requirements from Congress to justify its use of Section 804 Mid-Tier Acquisition and other authorities that seek to simplify the procurement process to rapidly deploy military capabilities to warfighters, Breaking Defense reported Monday.
The fiscal year 2023 omnibus appropriations measure signed into law in late December includes detailed reporting requirements for DOD. Under the law, the Pentagon should include in its FY 2024 budget submission a documentation outlining programs that use MTA authorities, a rationale, long-term acquisition strategy and cost estimates for each program.
Bill Greenwalt, a former Senate appropriations staffer, shared his insights on the potential impact of the reporting language on DOD’s efforts to transform the traditional acquisition process.
The reporting requirement “is designed to slow the process down to the take these special authorities that allow the department to move faster, and to essentially try to conform them to [the old] peacetime predictive linear model, which of course will ensure that the United States falls behind its adversaries,” Greenwalt told BD in an interview.
Pete Modigliani, defense acquisition leader at MITRE, said the reporting language would hamper DOD’s abilities to facilitate rapid acquisition processes.
“The Middle Tier of Acquisition pathway is one of DoD’s most valuable tools to rapidly deliver capabilities … to deter China’s threat,” Modigliani remarked.
